Chongqing, a huge city in a country of huge cities, has been the centre of news and internet wonderings and memes for the past week, as the previous top cop, Wang Lijun, has vanished. Wang was the lead man for Bo Xilai, the city’s Communist Party chief, and his efforts to rid the city of its massive corruption. The breaking up of the gangs in the city over the past years made for some great reading. But where those were pretty straight cop stories, this latest one is veering off into the mysterious.

Wang hadn’t been seen for a while and the official version was he was off on ‘vacation-styled treatment’ to recover from stress, a phrase the netterati here were all over. His last known whereabouts was at the American consulate in Chengdu, which he left, according to the consulate (internet tongues wag he was seeking asylum).
With Bo tagged for a spot in Beijing, the drama was high. Last night it ramped up with the release of the following letter purported to be from Wang Lijun. Yowza. Crazy times in the city of stairs.

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Wang Lijun’s open letter to the whole world:

When everyone sees this letter, I’ll either be dead or have lost my freedom. I want to explain to the whole world the reasons behind my actions. In short: I don’t want to see the Party’s biggest hypocrite Bo Xilai carry on performing: When such evil officials ruling the state, it will lead to calamity for China and disaster for our nation.

Bo Xilai’s “Singing Red Songs” is a farce, a show designed specifically to gain him entrance to the Standing Committee. This is Bo Xilai’s “Cultural Revolution”! He is a despot who makes arbitrary decisions, hateful and ruthless. If you going along with him you’ll prosper, go against him and you’ll perish. He always forces his subordinates to use any means possible to do all kinds of unspeakable things on his behalf. If you don’t comply you are dealt with ruthlessly. He treats people likje chewing gum: after a little chew, he just throws you away, and he doesn’t care whose fit you ender up under.

He is really the capo di tutti capi. He has taken over the Party, the people and the whole city of Chongqing, and turned it into his personal fiefdom. His personality is such that he will not give up the goal of become the top mob boss of China and to achieve this goal he is willing to do anything.

Bo Xilai has the reputation of being honest and upright, but he is actually corrupt to the core, conniving at his family members getting outrageously rich. I have documented these matters, and have already submitted reports to the relevant parties and I also ask that friends abroad help to circulate this letter to the world. I also hope to one day use these materials to publish a book.
Bo Xilai has ruthlessly fought his way to the top, as you can see from his struggling against his own father in the Cultural Revolution, and the way he has treated his brothers and sisters, and his ex-wife. I was willing to risk my life on his behalf, and he treated me worse than he’d treat a dog. When I first refused to his dirty work, he had my driver and other people taken away, as a threat to me.

Well, a gentleman prefers death over humiliation! I am not a hero; I am willing to give my sweat and blood for the people, but I am no longer quietly cry while working under the thumb of such an evil man. Everybody’s got to die, I am willing to use my life to expose the Bo Xilai. For the sake of ridding the Chinese system of this scourge on the people, this brazen careerist, I am willing to sacrifice everything!

Wang Lijun
February 3, 2012

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For more details see this post at Danwei, and for more background, this one in the Wall Street Journal, or just use your favourite search machine.